Nurse Who Claimed Duke Was Murdered Is Arrested

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April 4, 1995

LOS ANGELES — A nurse who claims tobacco heiress Doris Duke was the victim of a murder conspiracy admits she stole artwork from another wealthy patient. Tammy Payette, 27, was arrested last week for investigation of grand theft and released Saturday after posting $20,000 bail, said police Officer Don Cox. Payette took ''ivory pieces and statuettes'' from a patient she was treating at home, she told the Los Angeles Times in an interview published Sunday. ''I was under a lot of stress,'' Payette said. ''It was more of a nervous reaction. . . . I just took them.'' In January, Payette caused a stir when she claimed the 80-year-old Duke didn't die of natural causes in 1993, but was killed by large doses of morphine prescribed by her doctor, Charles Kivowitz.